For most Indians, heaven is winding down with a fragrant cup of chai after a long day at work. In the west, however, divinity usually comes in a slightly stronger form, such as a glass of red or white wine. Only a decade or so ago, Indian wine drinkers and successful vineyards were non-existent. Today, it’s a very different picture – rising incomes, re- laxed government regulations and a change in consumer attitude mean more people are choosing to wash down aloo paratha with a local wine, rather than a lassi or chai.
The industry is estimated to have a value of Rs 2.75 billion per annum. Although the industry is growing at a rate of 25 to 35 per cent a year (nearly three times as fast as the beer industry), it still makes up less than one per cent of the country’s USD1.8 billion alcohol market. In 2007, India produced about 1.3 million cases (each holding nine litres) in addition to the 220,000 which were imported, compared to less than 60,000 cases in 2001. In 2010, the market is expected to almost double, increasing from five million to nine million litres.
So what makes the Indian wine industry so hot?
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| Workers at Sula Vineyards |
According to the Future of Wine Report produced by Berry Bros. & Rudd, the UK fine wine merchants, the technology exchange in winemaking and viticulture from Europe and Australasia make India a likely challenge to traditional winemaking countries. With the potential to embrace wine in a big way, plus the economic muscle to dictate the wine producers make, India is expected to be a world player in the wine industry by 2058, or perhaps even sooner.
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| Sula's guest house at Nashik |
Robert Joseph, renowned wine critic, author and chairman of the India Wine Challenge, says that the market is promising and would benefit from the guidance of other New World wine-growing countries. “Look at New Zealand,” Joseph says. “They have essentially landed on top in less than 20 years by recognising the need for the right investment, technology and expertise. There is no reason why India cannot emulate them.”
While local winemaking dates back hundreds of years (it was the chosen drink of the Mughal dynasty and the British helped make it popular), the industry’s defining moment came in 2002 when the government eliminated restrictions on wine imports. A flood of foreign labels entered the market, and although taxes remained high, a greater range was made available to the Indian connoisseur.
By the late 1990s, a latent demand for wine had been created. This was partly due to a more liberal travel policy: Indians now travelled abroad for pleasure, armed with a disposable income and the willingness to spend it on good food and drink. While adventure seekers headed for Australia, vino fans holidayed in vineyards in Napa, Champagne and Tuscany. Business travellers socialised with wine lovers, and graduates returned home with degrees and a love of Bacchus’ brew.
This new love of the grape has been translated into a small but booming industry. The most influential wineries are Grover Vineyards, Champagne Indage and Sula Wines. Seeking the expert opinion of respected wine maker Abhay Kewadkar, Bangalore’s Grover Vineyards opened in 1988 and began using French wine grapes to produce wine in the 1990s. In 1987, Champagne Indage released its famous Marquise de Pompadour sparkling wine and put India on the world’s wine map. In 2000, Sula Wines launched their first wines – widely acclaimed as India’s best whites – onto a market badly needing a boost.
Indage Wines is the top dog in the Indian wine world because of its strong distribution system underpinned by the quality of its bubbly and Riviera brand – an inexpensive but pleasant table wine.
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Ranjit Dhuru, CEO of Chateau d'Ori, Dindori |
Sula Wines, on the other hand, is the brainchild of Rajeev Samant. A Stanford graduate, Samant grew grapes and made wine at his family’s orchard in Nasik rather than cashing in on his IT degree. Like his wine, Samant is somewhat of an industry golden child, and his commitment and passion are unsurpassed. He carried two bottles of Sula Sauvignon Blanc to Tokyo’s 2002 Vinexpo, the industry’s annual wine show. His wines so impressed Angelo Gaja, a leading Italian wine producer, that he immediately placed a trial order. The rest, as they say, is history. In 2008, Sula will produce over 220,000 cases of wine, giving it a clear leadership position in India’s premium wine sector.
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| Sula's Rajeev Samant |
Today, these three big wineries have attracted many newcomers to the “wine rush”, bringing their passion for wine, money or both. Some consider wine as a pure commodity, while others shortsightedly believe that it takes just a year to switch from table grapes to the more lucrative wine grapes.
Robert Joseph, a UK wine expert, believes that the wine competition he introduced to India has helped the industry grow and focus on quality – something it badly needs. “The producers are [currently] not relying on existing expertise to improve the quality of their grapes and wine. They are busy copying the Bordeaux style of winemaking. This can never give them good wine in India due to the different soil and climate.”
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| Abhay Khewadkar of UB |
But Joseph also recognises India’s huge potential, which it can fulfil as long as it concentrates on three essentials of growth: quality, quality and quality. Otherwise, he fears that China’s nascent industry will overtake India and a great opportunity will be lost.
Stephen Spurrier, another wine critic, agrees. In recent years, Spurrier conducted a blind tasting of New World wines for Decanter magazine – Grover’s “La Reserva” was rated Best Red Wine in the New World. However, Spurrier warns that one small victory does not mean the end of the battle.
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| Kapil Grover |
“Indian producers have to come out of their shell and accept that soil good for table grapes is not necessarily as good for wine grapes,” Spurrier stated. “Nasik may be the best area for consumable grapes, but not necessarily for wine grapes. You must explore other areas as well.”
Michel Rolland, Grover Vineyards’ French wine consultant, says vintners must be convinced that wine grapes are a prerequisite for good wine. However, Rolland is not convinced that Nasik has the right soil for good wine grapes. Instead, Karnataka and parts in Andhra Pradesh that have a similar soil and climate would offer better quality grapes. Other areas for exploration would be Kashmir, Himachal and Uttaranchal.
“The Indian wine industry is referred to as ‘25-25’, which means a yearly growth of 25 per cent for the next 25 years,” according to Kapil Grover of Grover Vineyards. “The main challenge for us will be to secure a supply of high quality grapes to keep pace with this demand. With the popularity of Indian cuisine worldwide, Indian wine has a ready market abroad.”
Sula’s founder, Rajeev Samant, agrees. He continues to be enthusiastic about the idea of a National Wine Board, which was mooted by the Ministry of Food Processing. Samant shares: “One step in the right direction to improve quality is the formation of a National Wine Board; this will bring about the best practices in the industry. I hope this will lead to greater self-regulation along the lines of what’s happened in countries like New Zealand and South Africa. On the consumer side, awareness and demand for wine continues to grow at a strong pace. There is no reason why consumption won’t grow in double digits for the next two decades.”
As wine consumption grows, new producers come into play. International spirit companies like Pernod Ricard and Diageo, or domestic companies like Goa’s John Distilleries (which produces Chateau de Banyan), have recently come on board. Similarly, UB Group – with its strong presence in the beer and spirit industry – has entered the fray. The newcomers won’t deter established industry players like Samant, however. “We have established our brand. Let these newcomers enter and create a new market. I am sure they will not be able to make a dent in ours.”
Many of the new wineries are taking wine tourism seriously, and are planning to establish tourist facilities as part of their commitment. At present, Sula has a California-designed Tasting Room, while US-educated Vikash Gupta of Vinner Enoteca Wines is working overtime to complete a vineyard resort located near Sula Vineyards in Nasik to catch the boom. Gupta admits, “By selling the Opera brand, we are also trying to create an image that we shall capitalise on when our resort is ready. We shall offer a complete vineyard experience to our clients by having visitors experiment and make their own wines.”
 Robert Joseph emphasises the need for quality to grow in the export market and to make the predictions in the Future of Wine Report come true. He states that those who are already drinking Indian wine in London are doing so because they feel it is good wine, not because it is Indian wine.
Subhash Arora is the President of the Indian Wine Academy. He is also the editor of the academy’s globally distributed e-newsletter delWine.
wineries for the sampling
Grover Vineyards, Bangalore
Grover was the first to take up the challenge of growing French grape varieties in India. Nine of those 35 varieties survived, and the company that owned 40 acres of land in 1988 slowly spread across 410 acres at the foot of Nandi Hills. Grover Vineyards is proud of both its exclusive wines and its use of French grapes selected from the original varieties Vitis vinifera.
Find it: Grover Winery, Raghunathapura, Devanahalli Road, Doddaballapur, Bangalore, tel: (080) 762 2123
Sula Vineyards, Nasik
The first to open a tasting room, Sula offers tours of the winery and vineyards that are educational or suitable for the general public. The Tasting Room sits amid the vineyards and the surrounding lakes and hills. Visitors can even stay at Beyond, the onsite accommodation. Open Thursday to Sunday.
Find it: Govardhan, Gangapur- Savargaon Road, Nasik, tel: (253) 223 1663
The above article is based on the article written for Ink Publishing, Singapore for the December Edition of Spiceroute, the inflight magazine of the Spice Jet airline-editor.
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